Phade

i thought the car had 36k on it.. thats what it says on the ebay listing..

E55Freak

Sorry. I'm talking about selling my 430.

nabster

I guess I shouldnt be trying to negotiate then! :o

I was just going based on the comments everyone made earlier about this being a Decent price

Phade

its a mad good price. i bought my 00 a year and a half ago with 29k miles on it for 29.6 and that was the best price possible at the time..

NYCLK 430

I got mine a couple of weeks back, 99, CLK 430, Black on Black, 20% tinted windows, mint condition inside and out, no imperfections. Heated Seats, Xenons w/ washers, rear sunshade, BOSE 6 CD, rain sensing wipers, every possible option for that year, as far as I know I never saw a 99 with Navigation. Paid $16,000 for it, out of state car, 76K Miles, dealer serviced.

So far I put in about $500 to get it perfect to my tatse ( Wheel bearings, front left and front right, $200 parts and labor comined. Two new Sumitomo HTR+ all season for the front, $212 after mounting, balancing, shipping. AMG Badge for the trunk lid, $12. Genuine Daimler Benz front windshield sticker, $7, usually all models come with it, mine was missing, maybe cause the windshield was replaced. Ambient Temp sensor (outside temp display), miracle, $11.20 from the Benz dealer after discount, free install. Last, Oil Change, 8 cans of Mobil 1 at $4.88 per can, $15 for a genuine oil filter from MB with the discount and $20 for labor.)

myNAMESterry

HOLY SHIEEEEET! AMG TIRES?!?!!?! BETTA COP THAT SHIET AS THEY BE ULTRA RARE YADIDAMEAN?!?!?!?~@?!??!?!?!11111one

nabster

lol I think the guy meant AMG rims/wheels ..

nabster

Ok, so I went in to see the car .. here are my notes:

Missing Options
- No Xenon
- No Headlight washers
- No Navigation
- No Phone
- No Warranty

Defects
- Medium Curb Rash on ALL 4 wheels
- A couple scratches on the hood (can be easily buffed)
- Minor wear on seats
- Accident record in Carfax report. No details available. Car looks and drives fine.

Next Steps
- Scheduled an inspection at the MB dealership for Monday

Final Price
- After some negotiation, the guy came down to $24,995 (out the door - pending mechanical inspection)

Thoughts?

midget fidger

If it was me, I wouldn't take it. He doesn't want to budge on the price, but he should be going a great deal lower if the car has been in some sort of accident. I was looking at a CLK a while ago that was def in an accident but carfax didn't show anything...it was going for about $5k less than it was worth. If MB says it's okay and you still want it, use this accident as your arguing point. Did he tell you before that it was in an accident? If not, I dunno, maybe he was trying to hide it...usually sellers like this know what's on the carfax.

nabster

I'd noticed it on the carfax report, and had notified him about the accident a week ago when I first started talking with him about the car. And he said "oh really, I had no idea. Mustve been something very minor like a parking garage fender bender or something that was taken care of by the Mercedes shop. Nothing to worry about."

I'm taking it into the shop on Monday .. will see what the service guys have to say. But yeah, definitely a bit shady

newguy2008

His comment is a bit shady for sure.

...."Nothing to worry about" - how the heck would he know?

midget fidger

yea, if has "no idea" then he can't talk about how severe it was

ThrillKill

What's a bolster?

StapleGun

You should always negotiate..all he can say is no. It looks like a fine auto, the ebay ad does not seem to be deceptive (AMG wheels and looks like the skirts too) I have seen that on many CLK's. At any rate, you can always upgrade to Xenons at a later date...

Keep us posted, the price does not seem bad for the mileage..always negotiate though...just my take on things.

LorinserCLK430

I think you got yourself an ok deal, you saved a little on the retail sticker. You should make sure that the accident on the carfax record hasn't effected the title, the comestic appearance, or the ride of the car/engine. If everything seems ok, especially upon an inspection by a professional, you will be happy.

MarcusF

I'd lace up my Nikes and walk. First, you know the seller is not to be trusted, right? Everything they've told you so far is a lie. First it's 36K miles, then it's 66K. First it's gorgeous, now it's been wrecked/piled up. And what's the quality of the re-spray??? The next owner will find out, but it'll be too late then. The only thing worse than a cheap re-spray, is having to pay to fix a cheap re-spray. It's only got half the K4 package, all four wheels have been curbed (that may be an indication of the loving care this car has seen), the interior's worn, the paint's been scratched (possibly beyond repair – if a little wax would take it out, don’t you think THE SELLER would have done it?), - and this is just the obvious stuff - wait till you get it home.


Car shopping is like picking up a girl at a bar after a few too many drinks. She looks great at the bar. She looks great back at your place - BUT MAN, when you wake up next to her in the morning light, and that alcohol has worn off, and so has her makeup, all you can think about is getting as far away, as quickly as possible.

Now picture NOT being able to have her walk you to the door, and never having to see her again. THAT is this car.

If any ladies are reading, please don't take this personally, and if you swap man for woman, I'm sure you'll agree. Especially if you went home with a man who was wearing makeup.

nabster

Here are the inspection results from the MB Dealership. Apparently, they spent 3 hours inspecting this car (but charged me for 2 @$99.99/hr)! Here's the findings

Chappy

Ditto.

StapleGun

Beat yo feet and run baby... run!

nabster

Woah .. it sounds like everyone has had a sudden change of heart. Must be the inspection report. Can anyone explain what part of the inspection report makes you think I should bail?

ps - The car is at 36k miles .. not 66k miles.

Chappy

Thanks for the mileage clarification. That helps, somewhat. A/C work is expensive on any Mercedes-Benz. If there is a leak somewhere, it could get costly...fast!

FWIW, I would be reluctant to purchase any pre-owned car that's been in an accident.

Are service records available? Are they complete? Any gaps?

How many previous owners for this car?

nabster

yeah since it was bought in wholesale as an offlease the dealer said the MB Dealership didnt provide this information because of customer confidentiality. However, being a lease return it should all be MB Serviced.

I'm going to use this report to further negotiate

MarcusF

Quote:

Originally Posted by nabster

Woah .. it sounds like everyone has had a sudden change of heart. Must be the inspection report. Can anyone explain what part of the inspection report makes you think I should bail?

I voted pass before the inspection because

• It's been wrecked (and the lying seller pretended not to notice the Carfax, yeah, right)
• All the wheels have been curbed
• The interior's worn
• The paint's scratched
• Considering the condition, the price is not fantastic.

As far as knowing what maintenance has been done, ask the dealer who performed the inspection for a VMI. That will tell you exactly what's been done by Mercedes. Considering the brake fluid hasn't been flushed in two years and the coolant in three, I wouldn't assume the dealer's been maintaining the car.



It sounds like there are better options available, so I would opt for another. But that's me, you've seen it, if it satisfies your needs, that's all that’s important.

nabster

Sigh .. i hate to report this but its the truth

I just called the guy .. told him all the findings, and said I'm not comfortable with the $24,995 price. He said, the best he can do is get the brakes fixed. (fluid/rotors etc). The rest of it he would do it for me at his cost (eg. $100/tire etc)

He said if the car is not for you, I have several other people calling about this car. The reason the price is this low is that there are some maintenance costs.

I told him to call me back if he was willing to negotiate. Click. End of story.

It hurts to have wasted all this time, and $300 in carfax/consumer reports/inspections etc .. but I guess it was a small price to pay to stay away from bigger expenses down the road!

jtbeche

Exactly. You can always find another one down the road. It's best never to let your "feelings for a car" get in the way. I remember I once bought an Acura TL 3.2 and loved the car when I looked it over. I thought maybe I noticed some signs of an accident but I told myself I didn't know what I was talking about and bought the car. Anyway, I actually never had a problem with it but the first time there was a little bit of frost out you could see all the writing they did on the windows saying the parts and areas that needed to be replaced. That writing (probably because of the waxes and things in what they used to write it with) didn't frost over so it was clear as day all the work that had been done.